Which is why general manager Mike Dunleavy can’t picture a universe where No. 30 doesn’t hang his jersey up as a member of Golden State.
“Of course. I think that’s where everything’s tracking,” Dunleavy told Sirius XM on Sunday. “You never know, but [I] can’t imagine a scenario where he doesn’t. It’s about all he’s done, all the records he’s set, the championships he’s won. It’s just the right thing for him to finish his career here, and I think he’s focused on that.”
Curry has done all of his work in the Bay.
Since Golden State selected him with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, Curry has earned 11 All-Star nods, 11 All-NBA team, four championships, two MVP awards and a spot on the league’s 75th anniversary team.
It truly wouldn’t make sense for the 17-year Warriors veteran to end his storied career with any other team.
But before the conversation even reaches that point … Dunleavy doesn’t even want to think about a Curry-less future for the Warriors organization.
“I kind of hope it’s a lot further down the road than we think,” Dunleavy said.
Dunleavy speaks on behalf of Dub Nation when saying he hopes Curry’s Golden State tenure ends later rather than sooner.
Not only is Curry one of the best basketball players of all time, but the 37-year-old is the face of the organization and likely all of Bay Area sports. A change in the region’s ecosystem would arrive upon Curry’s retirement.
For now, Dunleavy is focused on helping Golden State contend for a fifth title during the Curry Era, rather than crafting and managing a timeline where the greatest shooter isn’t around.
As it has been for seemingly decades, the Western Conference is just better. It's deeper than its Eastern counterpart, and this season it also features the two best teams in the league. All of which makes projecting it difficult because every team's margin for error is small, except maybe the Thunder.
Let's break down the West by Tiers.
TITLE CONTENDERS
1. Thunder 2. Nuggets
SECOND CIRCLE CONTENDERS
3. Timberwolves 4. Rockets 5. Lakers 6. Warriors
PLAYOFFS OR BUST
7. Clippers 8. Spurs 9. Mavericks 10. Grizzlies
HOPEFUL PLAY-IN TEAMS
11. Pelicans 12. Trail Blazers 13. Kings 14. Suns
LOTTERY BOUND
15. Jazz
Western Conference Finals
Denver Nuggets defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder
The two best teams in the NBA are in the West, and ultimately, it is going to come down to them — the Western Conference Finals might as well be the NBA Finals. Oklahoma City won the title last season, it's bringing back 14 players from that roster, and its core players are just entering their prime and are still improving. Denver has the best player on the planet in Nikola Jokic, and they finally went out and upgraded the talent around him with Cameron Johnson (an improvement over Michael Porter Jr.), Jonas Valanciunas (the best backup Jokic has had), Bruce Brown, and Luke Kennard joining Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon. I am picking Denver to win it all because of Jokic, but this would be a coin toss of a series.
After that, there are a bunch of good teams, but with questions that have to be answered — these seven teams could land in almost any order (I just trust a couple more in the playoffs, so they rank higher):
• Minnesota has made the Western Conference Finals in back-to-back years, and star Anthony Edwards is on the verge of being a top-five player in the world, but there are doubts about them taking another step without Nickeil Alexander-Walker (now in Atlanta) and an aging Mike Conley at the point.
• Houston was in my top contenders tier until Fred VanVleet was lost for the season with a torn ACL. The Rockets are an elite defensive squad with depth and improving young talent all over the roster — Alperen Sengun was an All-Star and Amen Thompson is about to be. The addition of Kevin Durant fixed their biggest need, half-court offense. However, without VanVleet, we need to see how Thompson and Reed Sheppard handle the role of initiating the offense. If it comes together, the Rockets are a legitimate threat to the Thunder and Nuggets, but VanVleet is a bigger loss than people realize.
• The Lakers are without LeBron James to start the season, but that's not really what's concerning (Luka Doncic is such a floor raiser it shouldn't impact them that much). Los Angeles is going to be good, but if it is going to threaten OKC and Denver it has questions to answer: Will they defend well enough, particularly in the minutes Doncic and Austin Reaves are both on the court? Is Deandre Ayton going to consistently be the defensive presence in the paint and rim-running big man on offense the Lakers need? Do the Lakers have enough shooting around Doncic? Can the Doncic/LeBron/Reaves trio develop enough chemistry during the season to overcome the defensive issues? That's a lot of questions.
• The analytics-based projection systems love the Warriors and the trio of Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green. Golden State undoubtedly will be an outstanding team when healthy, but with those three players all being over age 35, plus four other key rotation players — Al Horford, Seth Curry, Gary Payton II and Buddy Hield — all being 32+, can this roster stay healthy and be rested and fully charged for the playoffs? It's a question of age with this group, and Jonathan Kuminga is not going to save them on that front (if he's even there after the trade deadline).
• The Clippers could finish anywhere from 3-7 in the West and it wouldn't surprise me – I don't expect the cloud of the Aspiration/Kawhi Leonard scandal to bother this veteran team on the court. The Clippers are deep and talented, look for a bounce-back season from Bradley Beal. Tyron Lue's biggest problem when this team is healthy is getting everyone minutes. Health is the big question though, especially for Leonard and James Harden. While I love the Clippers for the first 82 games, when it gets to the playoffs, I do not trust their health or Harden.
• Victor Wembanyama is going to have a monster year on both ends of the court for the Spurs, Dylan Harper looks like the real deal, and this is a team that — once De'Aaron Fox gets healthy — could start to come together and finish top six in the West. This season feels like the first big step to San Antonio being a title contender within a couple of years.
• The front line of Anthony Davis, Cooper Flagg and Dereck Lively is one of the best in the NBA – this is a long, athletic team across the board. Once Kyrie Irving returns midseason (think 2026, but there is no timeline), the Mavericks quickly become a team capable of making a late push up the standings, the team nobody wants to see in a playoff series.
The teams after that just have even more questions, and that's rough in a conference this deep.
Memphis is starting the season without Jaren Jackson Jr., Zach Edey and Brandon Clarke, their top three big men, so how much of the load can Ja Morant handle on his own? A slimmed-down Zion Williamson has looked good in preseason, but he's got to stay healthy for a season and lift up everyone around him — on a kind of mismatched roster — before we start to believe. Portland has so much athleticism, youth, and potential that they will be fun to watch, but they are not yet a good team. Sacramento has plenty of talented offensive players — Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Dennis Schroder, the just-extended Keegan Murray — but this is the "Island of Misfit Toys" roster and it could get ugly (plus, midseason trades of stars are coming).
I have the retooling Suns in the "hoping for the play-in" tier to start the season because Devin Booker is in his prime and elite, but this roster isn't a threat (the Wizards hold swap rights on the Suns' first-round pick next June, which could get strange late in the season). The Jazz are at least honest about their plans this season, and watching Ace Bailey and the other young talent will have us tuning in to see how things look.
Draymond Green has heard it all before — how much of the Warriors’ success is tied to Stephen Curry, and how one more title could cement the guard’s legacy among the all-time greats.
In an exclusive interview with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Kerith Burke, Green made it clear he never has felt like a footnote in that story — and never will.
“I don’t think there’s any bigger Steph fan than me,” Green told Burke. “I don’t think there’s any bigger supporter, I don’t think there’s any bigger believer. I don’t think there’s anyone that will gracefully take a back seat to that and enjoy it. So, no, I never feel that — and in large part, probably because he would never let me feel that.”
Curry and Green were drafted three years apart — Curry in 2009 and Green in 2012 — and have spent their entire NBA careers with Golden State. In that time, the Warriors have won four championships, appeared in six NBA Finals and recorded the league’s best single-season record: 73–9 in 2015–16.
Green has earned four NBA All-Star selections, two All-NBA nods and a Defensive Player of the Year award, while Curry has collected two MVP trophies and revolutionized the modern game with his shooting.
So many around the league have put Curry on a pedestal — including coach Steve Kerr, who told Burke he is “the solar system of everything Golden State does.” Burke reminded Green that much of the conversation centers on maximizing Curry’s greatness and getting him a fifth ring. But that ring would be Green’s fifth, too.
Public opinion, though, means little to Green — not if it isn’t Curry’s opinion.
“Everybody else can say what they say, and that’s fine, but I know how he feels,” Green explained. “And as long as I know how the man feels, that’s good enough for me, you know, I know the love and support and appreciation that he has for me. If I’m not appreciated by one other person, what other one really matters if he does?”
As the Warriors prepare for another season and a possible fifth championship run, Green’s focus remains on the same thing that’s fueled their dynasty from the start — his belief in Curry and the team around him.
Now comes the report that the Lakers are being "patient" and want the 40-year-old to return to full health, not rush him, which has them thinking mid-November for LeBron's return, via Shams Charania of ESPN speaking on NBA Today.
"I'm told that the Lakers and LeBron are looking at around mid-November as a realistic debut for him, and so October 30th would be the earliest that the Lakers would be officially reevaluating LeBron James, but it is expected he will need at least a few weeks after that point. A source told me tonight that LeBron will be taking a patient approach with this rehab from nerve injury."
That tracks with what we know about recovery from sciatica, it is not a fast process.
One of the most well known cases of sciatica in the NBA is LeBron’s Mind the Game cohost Steve Nash. Nash’s sciatica was linked to multiple bulging discs in his back and spondylolisthesis,
His return ultimately depends upon healing whatever is compressing the sciatic nerve, which runs from the lower back through the hips and down the leg to the feet. The nerve can be compressed by a number of things, such as a herniated disc, a bone spur, muscle tissue after lifting something heavy incorrectly, or other issues.
LeBron's injury is not going to hit the Lakers too hard on the court at the start of the season (he is out for opening night, Oct. 21, when the Lakers host Stephen Curry and the Warriors on NBC and Peacock). Luka Doncic is one of the great floor raisers of the game — just having him makes a team competitive — and he enters the season in the best shape of his life and playing with a chip on his shoulder. However, to reach their ceiling in the playoffs, the Lakers will need not only a healthy LeBron but him and Doncic (and Austin Reaves, and Deandre Ayton) on the same page and clicking. Building chemistry takes time and is the one thing delayed by his return.
LeBron averaged 24.4 points, 8.2 assists, and 7.8 rebounds a game and was named Second Team All-NBA. LeBron's historic streak of making 21 consecutive All-NBA teams is in jeopardy this season because, after missing games to start the season, his ability to get to the 65-game cutoff (imposed by the league) is in question.
NBA players making their debut this season will wear a special patch on their shirts as part of a programme by trading card brand Topps, made by sports company Fanatics.
Any player making their debut will wear the patch on their shirt for their first game, before the patch is removed and placed onto a unique one-of-a-kind trading card.
That trading card will not only consist of the debut patch, but will also have the player's autograph on it.
A similar programme of using debut patches on trading cards has been used by Topps trading cards in Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball previously.
"Imagine having LeBron [James]'s, [Michael] Jordan's, [Steph] Curry's debut patch and what that would mean?" Fanatics Collectibles CEO Michael Mahan told ESPN.
"Well, the next generational superstar will have a debut patch - the ultimate rookie card."
Fanatics have also announced plans to make special patch cards for the Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.
For those players, they will wear a gold NBA Logoman Patch which will then be used on rare trading cards.
"Trading cards haven't been associated with achievements, success and accolades: we're going to bring that into trading cards," added Mahan.
The NBA season starts on Tuesday, 21 October. Among those who will make their debuts this year are Amari Williams, a British centre who was picked up in the NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics earlier this year.
This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.
Amari Williams is in line join the list of Britons to play in the NBA this season, should he make his Boston Celtics debut [Getty Images]
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SAN FRANCISCO – Moses Moody, who entered the starting lineup during the Warriors’ impressive late-season run to the NBA playoffs, likely will be a spectator on opening night this season.
Moody started the first two preseason games but has since been sidelined by a calf strain. He did not practice on Thursday and will miss the preseason finale Friday night against the Los Angeles Clippers at Chase Center.
“I would say Moses is doubtful for the opener,” coach Steve Kerr said. “He just hasn’t practiced yet, and we’re hoping that he gets on the floor maybe Sunday or Monday. But without enough ramp-up time, he’s doubtful for the opener.”
Moody’s expected absence is a considerable blow to Golden State’s guard/wing rotation. Guard De’Anthony Melton, reconditioning after surgery last December to repair a torn left ACL, will be sidelined until at least November. Both are quality defenders capable of filling the role alongside Stephen Curry in the backcourt. With LA’s Luka Dončić looming on opening night, to whom does Kerr turn? There is no perfect move.
Buddy Hield has started alongside Curry in the past and could get consideration this time around. He’s a better physical matchup with Dončić, but such an assignment would come with the risk of early fouls that could limit Hield’s offensive impact. He thrives on offense when coming off the bench and exploiting opposing second units.
Gary Payton II could get a look, as his defense could annoy Dončić as well as anyone. But that move would severely cramp Golden State’s floor spacing on offense.
Would Kerr turn to rookie Will Richard? Feels like a reach to have someone – anyone – make his NBA debut against an MVP candidate. But Kerr makes it abundantly clear that he believes in Richard, so the possibility can’t be ruled out.
“He has great feel,” Kerr said of Richard. “He’s a really good cutter. The game flows when he’s out there, at both ends. He’s making the right reads and rotations defensively. He’s got a 6-10 wingspan, so he gets his hands on a lot of balls, but it’s the reeds that really (stand out).”
With the versatility of veteran center Al Horford, a two-big lineup – Horford joined by 7-foot Quinten Post up front – deserves consideration. That, however, would force Draymond Green or Jimmy Butler III to contend with Dončić. There are pros and cons to such a decision.
What’s clear is that the Warriors don’t have an ideal defender against Dončić. Neither young Klay Thompson nor experienced Andre Iguodala will be on the floor. Andrew Wiggins, who drew the assignment in recent years, is with the Miami Heat.
With five days to go, Kerr and his staff will convene to explore their options and make a decision.
I'm not sold that the Charlotte Hornets will be any good, but they will be entertaining.
Case in point, this preseason play by LaMelo Ball, nutmegging a defender in transition, then throwing a one-handed 30-foot alley-oop to Brandon Miller.
THE NUTMEG. THE LOB. THE FINISH. Everything about this Lamelo Ball to Brandon Miller play was RIDICULOUS!
Highlight plays like that are part of what has made LaMelo a social media star and a favorite player of numerous young NBA fans — he was the leading vote-getter by fans for the Eastern Conference All-Stars (but did not make the team after the media and player votes were added in, then the coaches picked the reserves). If all you watch are highlight clips on Instagram or TikTok, LaMelo looks like one of the best players in the league.
LaMelo is beloved by young fans, and coming out of high school into the Ball family social media circus and playing overseas added to his popularity. However, that path didn't sharpen his game as a leader who can get his team wins. It just leads to a lot of very entertaining plays.
As the NBA gets set to tip off its new 11-year, $76 billion media-rights juggernaut on Tuesday night, advertisers have already snapped up much of the available in-game inventory for the 2025-26 season. And given the increase in the number of games that will air on broadcast TV, it’s all but inevitable that sales revenues will be up sharply compared to the year-ago period.
According to booking data furnished by Guideline, which captures actual agency investment figures from the six major U.S. holding companies as well as most of the large independent shops, total NBA ad spend reached $1.52 billion last season, up 15% versus 2023-24. ABC/ESPN enjoyed a heady 20% boost in sales volume, while TNT closed out its final season as an NBA media partner with a 9% lift in ad dollars.
Under the new suite of rights deals, which includes national coverage across the Disney and NBCUniversal platforms, as well as Amazon’s Prime Video, the ad dollars are expected to climb even higher. In addition to the NBA’s amped-up broadcast footprint—NBCU will produce 100 regular-season games, with that allotment set to be split evenly between a weekly Tuesday night showcase on the flagship network and an exclusive streaming package via Peacock—pricing is up compared to last fall.
In a video interview, Sean Wright, Guideline’s chief insights and analytics officer, said his team anticipates marked revenue growth for the NBA’s media partners, as the boost in the volume of available inventory has coincided with a “healthy increase on the price side.” In other words, “It’s not just that there’s more games on more platforms, it’s that they’re able to charge a little bit more—and those CPM increases are consistent with what we’ve seen over the last few years with the NBA.”
Per Guideline, the cost of reaching NBA fans across the league’s TV and streaming partners is up 19% year-over-year.
If the upcoming NBA campaign is anything like past seasons, much of the in-game commercial breaks will be stuffed with spots paid for by automakers, fast-food restaurants, retail outlets, movie studios (and their streaming counterparts) and financial services. Not that there’s a whole lot of airtime still up for grabs; as NBC noted earlier this month, nearly all of its in-game NBA inventory was auctioned off during the spring upfront bazaar … although naturally the company is holding a percentage of units back to sell in the scatter market.
While the money that comes in via the usual Madison Ave. channels goes a long way toward defraying the cost of carrying the NBA’s games, advertising doesn’t pay the full freight. Per Guideline’s analysis, ad help offset about 50% of most top-tier sports rights fees, with affiliate revenue, retransmission consent fees and other third-party payments accounting for a good chunk of the remainder.
Wright said Ad Land’s contribution to paying off the annual rights bill has been remarkably consistent over the last 10 years, holding steady at around that 50% mark despite a range of marketplace disruptions and various spasms at the macroeconomic level. For example, in 2017 U.S. sports ad revenues came in at $9.1 billion, or 51.7% of that same year’s total broadcast rights fees ($17.6 billion). Guideline projects that ad sales in 2026 will climb to $17.1 billion, which works out to 52.1% of the $32.8 billion in rights payouts that will come due next year.
As long as sports remains the straw that stirs TV’s drink, the ad dollars will continue to roll right in. Wright estimates that live sports will generate nearly 40% of total ad revenue for the linear TV space in 2025, up sharply from 20% just eight years ago. That’s a function of sports’ stranglehold over linear audiences—recall that sports claimed 93 of the top 100 most-watched broadcasts in the non-Olympic, non-election year that was 2023—and the fact that primetime entertainment continues to lose share to streaming. Per Nielsen live-same-day data, the average network sitcom/drama/unscripted series last season averaged just 414,228 adults 18-49 per episode, which marked a 13% drop compared to the year-ago period and a staggering 24% loss versus the 2022-23 demo deliveries.
While it’s too early to get a read on how the new TV season is shaping up, marketers’ enthusiasm for the new-look NBA slate is manifested in not only the elevated pricing and sellout rates, but also by way of all the new sponsors that are in the mix. By NBCU’s reckoning, 20% of their NBA advertisers are first-time buyers of NBC/Peacock inventory, and 10% of its 170 backers are new to the NBA as a whole.
NBC and Peacock will set the stage for the season to come on Tuesday night with an inaugural East coast/West coast doubleheader, as the Thunder and Rockets get the ball rolling at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed by Warriors-Lakers at 10:30 p.m. Among the premium backers that’ll be visible during the opener are presenting sponsor (and official NBA automotive booster) Kia and American Express, which has its brand staked to the halftime show. Like Kia, Amex is also a long-time league marketing partner, signing on as the NBA’s official payment services marque in 2010.
Keegan Murray, speaking to the media last month for the first time since last season at Kings Media Day, talked about one life-changing moment this year after marrying his long-time girlfriend, Carly, over the offseason.
A smile – OK, a smirk – lit up his face as he talked about the unforgettable night for several minutes.
Little did he know he would experience yet another life-changing moment a few weeks later.
At Media Day, Murray was asked about where negotiations stood as he entered the final year of his rookie contract. Murray, as expected, kept things simple as he detailed his mindset at the time.
“I told my agent, for me, I just don’t want to worry about that,” he said. “I told him he can handle the business side, and when I hear from him, or if I see his contact on my phone, I want it to be something important.
Murray got that call on Wednesday.
The Kings locked up their former No. 4 overall pick for the long haul, agreeing to a five-year, $140 million contract extension with Murray on Wednesday, his agent Mark Bartelstein confirmed to NBC Sports California.
Murray, the second-longest tenured King only behind Domantas Sabonis, will remain in Sacramento for the long run. And that’s a win-win for both sides.
Since being drafted by Sacramento in 2022, there has been much discussion about whether Murray has lived up to the expectations of a lottery pick.
He was off to a convincing start in his rookie season, mostly serving as a 3-point sharpshooter while breaking the NBA’s rookie 3-point record along the way. He also finished fifth in Rookie of the Year voting.
In the seasons following, his shooting took a dip while his focus shifted to the defensive end of the court. In three seasons with Sacramento, Murray has averaged 13.3 points on 45.1-percent shooting from the field and 37.2 percent from distance, with 5.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 32.5 minutes per game.
Within the blink of an eye, Murray has emerged as one of the best 3-and-D wings in the league.
And now, with a new contract and the loss of De’Aaron Fox last season, Murray is on a clear one-way path toward becoming the face of the franchise in Sacramento along his trek of reaching two-way stardom potential.
“I think you guys know how I feel about Keegan,” coach Doug Christie told reporters before Sacramento’s preseason game against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. “Incredibly versatile player. Love him as a person. Just watching him grow up as a young man and watching his game continue to blossom.
“From the time I took over, just trying to put air underneath his wings. And let him know that he’s highly valued and we truly, truly appreciate him here.”
A large part of what’s holding back Murray’s offensive surge falls on Sacramento’s roster construction. He’s had to share the court with players who demand the ball in their hands, taking away and limiting his own touches.
It appears that won’t change during the upcoming 2025-26 season.
Murray will start alongside Dennis Schroder, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Domantas Sabonis. A small, and perhaps irrelevant, sample size through a few preseason games shows spacing continues to be an issue for this team – specifically with that lineup.
But this move to lock up Murray for at least the next six seasons makes at least one thing clear: the Kings are committed to building this team, the rotations and lineups around Murray. It might not be this season, but it’s becoming more and more evident that’s the end goal.
Aside from roster construction, the next step in Murray’s evolution is to be more aggressive offensively. He knows it, his coaches demand it and his teammates encourage it.
“A key component to our success is Keegan — on both ends of the ball,” DeRozan told reporters during training camp earlier this month. “We won’t be able to go nowhere if we don’t get the best out of him every single night.”
That will be the goal this season and beyond for Sacramento.
While speaking to the media for more than 15 minutes during end-of-the-season exit interviews back in April, Murray reflected on his NBA journey thus far.
He made it clear that he wasn’t disappointed in his third NBA season with the Kings, despite some outside noise critiquing his inability to make a notable and consistent leap. Murray was committed to staying patient, knowing his time would come.
“I’ve had to fill different roles within the team, now that I think about it, every year,” Murray said at the time. “So with me, I think eventually it’ll pay off. I know that eventually good things are going to happen. So I’m not worried about anything.
“I know my time is going to come, and whether it’s next year, or a couple years after, I know eventually it’ll be my time.”
Well, that time is now.
And while Sacramento’s brass maneuvers through unclear waters, Murray’s signing at least gives a loyal Kings fanbase something to look forward to now and in the future as the “Keegan! Murray!” chants are here to stay.
A decade now has passed since Steph Curry won his first NBA MVP, and the Warriors won their first championship in 40 years the same season. So much has changed since.
They weren’t supposed to win a title in 2022 and haven’t made it past the second round of the NBA playoffs since. The Warriors’ core is historically old, and also have the talent and experience to be reawakened as a sleeping giant in a league of parity where a young man’s game is played.
There are three avenues the always intriguing Warriors can go down in the upcoming 2025-26 NBA season: Good, bad and great, with questions and answers for all options. Let’s map out how the Warriors can wind up in each final destination.
The Rewind
This road is a straight shot to right about where the Warriors wound up last season. In this scenario, they finish with between 46 and 49 wins and are anywhere from the No. 8 seed in a loaded Western Conference to the No. 6 seed. They have highs, they have lows and end up as an above average team.
The Warriors last season started off red-hot, going 12-3 in their first 15 games. Then they imploded, falling right off a cliff. They also were two different teams in one season.
Before the Jimmy Butler trade, the Warriors went through a five-game losing streak, two three-game losing streaks and four two-game losing streaks. After his acquisition, the Warriors had a losing streak – which lasted two games – only once.
To run it back as a similar result to last season, the Warriors’ veterans of Curry, Butler, Draymond Green and Al Horford would be bitten hard enough by the injury bug. Curry in this case is the lone All-Star with Butler either barely missing the cut or not being healthy enough. Their talent and experience is too much, but so are the miles on their bodies.
Whether it was home or on the road, the Warriors were the same team last season. Literally. The Warriors were 24-17 at home and 24-17 on the road. But they also were just 5-11 against their Pacific Division foes.
The older players are good enough but run into bumps and bruises and can’t always find their second gear on the second night of back-to-backs. The young players make minimal leaps and the Warriors can’t find a good enough upgrade at the trade deadline.
Verdict: Unlikely
The Disaster
Isn’t this scenario obvious? It all starts with the health of the Warriors’ core four. Horford (39), Curry (37), Butler (36) and Green (35) are all over 35 years old to start the season. Golden State will be rolling out a historically old group, and that always comes with major risk.
Curry’s hamstring ended the Warriors’ 2024-25 season the second he began grabbing the back of his leg in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals. The Warriors were 7-5 without Curry in the regular season and then lost four straight games after his injury in the playoffs. They were 6-8 without Green and lost the one regular season game Butler didn’t play for them.
But even the younger guys dealt with some injuries, too. Kuminga missed more than two months with a badly sprained ankle. Brandin Podziemski twice missed time and then had to undergo two surgeries in the offseason. Moses Moody missed just a handful of games but also is coming off surgery as well.
De’Anthony Melton? He played a grand total of six games for the Warriors and won’t be ready until the first few weeks of November at the very, very earliest. Gary Payton II also always is an injury risk.
A Warriors recipe for disaster is major injuries to their stars and older players, at least one bad injury to their younger players and steps backwards from them too. Their win total would be somewhere between 37 and 40 games, fighting to even make the play-in tournament.
Verdict: Scary possibility, but unlikely
The Title Hunt
Turn on the film from the moment Butler put on a Warriors jersey and stop right before Curry’s hamstring injury in Minnesota. Now imagine a full season of that team, which is the ride the Warriors are looking to revel in.
From an offseason perspective, all the Warriors lost was Kevon Looney, which will be hard to replace in his own right. But they now have Butler from the start, while signing Horford and Seth Curry, and bringing back Melton and Payton.
Once Butler arrived, the Warriors, like their newest teammates, found their joy again. The Warriors went 23-8 the rest of the regular season, which in an 82-game season would have them on pace for 61 wins. That win total is probably out of reach but there are reasons the analytics love the Warriors.
Most sportsbooks have the Warriors’ over/under at 46.5 wins. One ESPN wins projection has the Warriors winning 56 games, and another ESPN simulation has them winning 63 and making it all the way to the NBA Finals. The goal should be at least 50 wins, which was tied for the Nos. 3, 4 and 5 seeds in the Western Conference last season.
Winning that many games would ensure the Warriors wouldn’t have to be in playoff mode starting in early February. It also would mean they start hot out the gates, don’t have extended losing streaks, can withstand back-to-backs, have at least two All-Stars, their young players take major leaps and Kuminga is either too good to trade or brings back the exact player the Warriors need to compete for a title.
Quick history lesson: The Warriors have made the Finals every season they have won at least 50 games with Steve Kerr as their head coach.
Avoiding the play-in tournament is a must for the Warriors. Finding themselves as a top-four seed with home-court advantage is something the rest of the league doesn’t want to think about. Curry played like his first MVP season after the Butler trade and is as motivated as ever to chase his fifth ring.
Compiling between 49 and 55 wins should have him gearing up for 16 playoff wins, and maybe even in the MVP hunt.
Rick Welts started his NBA journey as a Seattle SuperSonics ballboy in 1969 at the age of 16, moving up to serve as their public relations director. He spent 17 years in the league office, helping to launch NBA All-Star Weekend and the “Dream Team” marketing program. Welts led the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors for roughly a decade each, and on Jan. 1, he took over as Dallas Mavericks CEO.
Welts is an NBA lifer, and yet, he has never seen what’s happening right now.
“Never had a moment like this where you could be as optimistic as I am,” Welts said in a video interview. “A lot of people are in this league, from an international perspective, from a media perspective, and I really feel like we have the best ahead of us.”
Investors concur, based on a trio of team sales this year in Boston, Los Angeles and Portland that spanned the sport’s economic tiers and drove values up across the board. The average NBA team is worth $5.51 billion, according to Sportico’s calculations, up 20% versus last year and 113% from 2022, when the average was $2.58 billion.
The gains are even bigger at the bottom of the financial table. The “get-in” price, or the value of the lowest-ranked team (Memphis Grizzlies), is $4 billion, up 2.5x from 2022 ($1.63 billion). Investors are bidding up the entry price to own 1/30th of an entity with a new $76 billion TV contract and global aspirations, including building new leagues in Africa and Europe.
The Golden State Warriors lead our NBA team valuations for the fifth straight year at $11.33 billion—only the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys ($12.8 billion) rank higher among the most valuable global sports franchises. The Warriors are followed by the Los Angeles Lakers ($10 billion), who moved up ahead of the New York Knicks ($9.85 billion), the Los Angeles Clippers ($6.72 billion) and the Boston Celtics ($6.35 billion).
Our enterprise valuation estimates measure a control sale price, instead of a limited partnership transaction. Collectively, the NBA’s 30 teams are worth $165 billion, including real estate held by owners and team-related businesses, such as WNBA franchises. If the NBA were a publicly traded stock, its enterprise value would be a tick more than biopharma firm Gilead Sciences.
The average NBA team generated an estimated $408 million in revenue last season, or $12.2 billion total, including non-NBA events at buildings where teams own or operate them. They ranged from $833 million for the Warriors to $301 million for the Grizzlies. Figures are net of revenue sharing that transferred roughly $400 million to low-revenue teams last year, funded by high-revenue teams and 50% of luxury tax proceeds. Ten teams paid a collective $455 million in tax penalties for payrolls that topped the $170.8 million threshold.
Basketball-related income was $10.25 billion last season, hurt by a choppy local media environment and multiple small-market teams reaching the conference finals, which dinged postseason gate receipts. It meant that more than $480 million went back to teams from the escrow fund set aside to make the math work in the system laid out in the collective bargaining agreement that ensures a 51-49 split in revenue between players and the league.
The NBA won’t have any revenue shortfalls this season. The new media contract with Amazon, ESPN/ABC and NBC will bump each team’s TV revenue from $103 million to $143 million. The payouts rise 7% per year on average, resulting in each team on track for $281 million for the 2034-35 season, based on a 30-team league.
Teams get additional shared revenue from sponsorships, international, retail and other league operations. The recent team sales were largely priced based on 2025-26 revenue.
The Warriors continue to be the sport’s most dominant financial power, with revenue 34% higher than the Knicks’ $620 million. The team generates more than $5 million a game in ticket revenue, plus $2.5 million from luxury suites. Its jersey patch deal with Rakuten is worth $45 million a year, and overall sponsorship revenue is nearly double any other team.
Golden State is the rare team that owns its arena—most just operate them. The club also owns the land around the $1.4 billion Chase Center that makes up the 11-acre mixed-use development Thrive City. The club’s related business and real estate value topped $2 billion this year with the WNBA’s Golden State Valkyries tipping off their inaugural season.
The Valkyries made history on the court as the first expansion team to qualify for the playoffs in their first year. Off the court, the club shot to the top of Sportico’s WNBA valuation at $500 million. The team’s per-game ticket revenue was higher than 10 NBA teams last year, including both teams in the NBA Finals.
Eight other NBA teams got a boost from their stakes in WNBA teams, including expansion franchises awarded to Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia. The Indiana Fever, a part of Pacers Sports & Entertainment, have been ground zero for the W’s soaring financial standing. During the 2022 season, the Fever averaged 1,776 fans per game, but they topped 17,000 in 2024 after the arrival of Caitlin Clark.
The Fever made the WNBA semifinals this year, despite Clark missing the final two months of the season, after the Pacers faced off against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2025 NBA Finals. “To have both teams doing well at the same time is the perfect storm,” Mel Raines, PS&E CEO said in a phone interview.
The crossover between the NBA and WNBA fans is limited in many markets. Raines said the overlap of ticket buyers is between 5% and 10% for her two clubs. “You’re engaging another fan base with the opportunity, a large opportunity, to get them to be a fan of both teams.”
Team Arenas
The team with the biggest financial swing last season was the Clippers, boosted by their first season at the $2 billion Intuit Dome. The team moved from the AEG-owned Crypto.com Arena, where it was the third tenant behind the Lakers and the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings; concerts were also arguably higher than the Clippers in the Crypto.com Arena pecking order.
The Clippers’ Intuit Dome has 46 traditional suites, plus 20 bungalow suites and four courtside cabanas. The cabanas cost $2 million per year, and all accrues to the team, a big step up from Crypto.com where the Clippers’ lease had them receive 12% of suite revenue.
At Intuit Dome, the team pockets all revenue from ticketing, premium, sponsorships and non-NBA events. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer also owns the Kia Forum next door, which is part of our related business value. Overall, the Clippers’ arena and sponsorship revenue jumped an estimated 130% to $330 million. Revenue will jump again this season with a full year of non-NBA events, as well as with the sale of some other premium sponsorship properties.
The Clippers’ 23-year, $300 million sponsorship deal with Aspiration has been one of the NBA’s biggest offseason storylines. Even without the cash from the bankrupt finance firm, the Clippers’ sponsor revenue topped $100 million, which ranked second in the league for sponsorships last season, behind the Warriors.
New NBA arenas are coming in Oklahoma City (2028) and Philadelphia (2030). The Thunder’s $900 million space will be publicly funded—71% of voters approved the deal in 2023. Small markets often have to put up funding towards new buildings or risk losing their franchise. OKC has also soared on the court as the defending NBA champions and favorites to repeat this season. The strong on-court play and impending new arena pushed the value up 22% to $4.34 billion, and its rank of No. 22 is up four spots from 2023.
The 76ers’ owner, Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment (HBSE), had been in a holy war with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers and Comcast over building a standalone NBA arena in Center City. In January, the two groups reversed course and announced a 50-50 joint venture to build a new arena to house both teams. The deal included Comcast taking an equity stake in the 76ers and paved the way for the WNBA to award Philadelphia an expansion franchise for 2030 that is majority-owned by HBSE.
The Sixers have been tenants at the newly renamed Xfinity Mobile Arena since Josh Harris and David Blitzer bought the team for $287 million in 2011 through a carveout from Comcast Spectacor, which kept ownership of the Flyers and arena. It severely hindered their ability to generate arena revenue, as most NBA teams operate their own buildings. The new venture included a provision that allowed the 76ers to capture a greater share of arena revenue at Xfinity Mobile starting last season. The Sixers’ value jumped 23% to $5.61 billion for a 23.7% compounded annual gain since Harris and Blitzer bought the team.
The Mavericks are also targeting a new arena after 24 years of sharing the American Airlines Center with the NHL’s Stars. The opportunity attracted Welts, who oversaw construction of the Chase Center, as well as Ethan Casson, who took over as Mavs president this summer after serving in the same role with the Timberwolves for nine years. They are scouting sites for a new Mavericks arena and entertainment district, to ideally select one by the end of the first quarter of 2026.
Team Sales
The economics of owning an NBA team have evolved significantly over the past 15 years, thanks to multiple rounds of more owner-friendly collective bargaining agreements and revenue growth via media, sponsorships and ticketing.
Yes, the league faces the challenge of the melting RSN model, which has cut local rights fees in many markets or sent teams to less lucrative over-the-air options. In April, the Knicks agreed to a 28% cut. But the new national media deal pushes the league closer to the NFL’s economic model, with central revenue playing a larger role, as the league sorts out options to centralize more TV rights.
Over the past five years, there have been nine NBA team sales, including pending deals for the Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers. The last time so many teams changed hands was when nine teams were sold between 2010 and 2012. Those agreements priced teams at just over three times revenue.
The current round of transactions kicked off when the Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves sold for roughly six times revenue. During 2023, owners of the Charlotte Hornets, Dallas Mavericks and Milwaukee Bucks all sold stakes at about 10 times revenue—the Phoenix Suns were the outlier that year with Mat Ishbia paying 13 times the prior year’s revenue for the club.
In March, William Chisholm reached an agreement to buy the Celtics in two stages, which was the stated goal when team ownership hired BDT & MSD and JPMorgan Chase to sell the team. The deal valued the team at $6.1 billion in the first payment, a tick ahead of the Washington Commanders’ 2023 sale for $6.05 billion, the previous most expensive control sale in sports team history.
The first tranche of the deal priced the 18-time NBA champions at 13 times 2023-24 net revenue, although the Celtics won the NBA title that year and grossed $102 million hosting 11 playoff games. The C’s sale was more like 14 times normal-year revenue. The blended value of the Celtics transaction is roughly $6.5 billion.
The record sale price lasted three months. Then Mark Walter agreed to buy the Lakers at a $10 billion valuation, or 16 times revenue. The Lakers, like the Celtics, are tenants in their arena, which dents their ability to drive revenue from concerts and other events. Yet, the Lakers have the richest local TV deal in the sport; their agreement with Charter Communications’ Spectrum brand paid the club nearly $200 million for the 2024-25 season.
Last month, Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon reached a deal to buy the Portland Trail Blazers for $4.25 billion, or 12 times last year’s revenue. The Celtics’ deal closed in August, while the Lakers’ and Trail Blazers’ agreements still need NBA approval.
Franchise values are being closely monitored by every team because of the impact on the fee in a potential expansion process. The NBA has not expanded since 2004 when Charlotte (then known as the Bobcats) started play, and the other 29 owners split a $300 million payment. This round will be likely be 20x higher.
Expansion was discussed in depth at the July Board of Governors’ meeting in Las Vegas. The presentations walked through the math on the dilution effect to national revenue, as well as the impact on the salary cap.
“The appetite in the [BOG] room I would define more as curiosity and more ‘Let’s do the work,’” Silver told reporters after the meetings ended. “I think we also have this greater obligation to expand, if we do so, in a very deliberate fashion in a way that makes sense holistically for the league. That’s really the best I can do.”
Silver had long said the league would turn its attention to expansion after the latest CBA and media deals were done. The media deal was signed in July 2024, a year after the CBA. The majority of NBA executives Sportico surveyed still expect expansion, but not in the immediate future. Seattle and Las Vegas remain the odds-on favorites, and the price tag is likely to hit $6 billion, although it could be structured where the net present value is lower.
While Seattle and Las Vegas might have to wait a bit longer, the NBA is nearing an expansion to Europe in partnership with FIBA. Deep-pocketed investors are circling the launch of a new league that could include 16 teams, with NBA teams sharing in the expansion proceeds. A fall 2027 tipoff is a real possibility, according to sources familiar with the current plans.
International remains the biggest opportunity for the NBA. The NBA created the Basketball Africa League in 2019 and now wants to sell 12 teams with new home arenas for those franchises.
This month, the league returned to China after a six-year hiatus. The two games in Macao were a pivotal step in repairing the relationship with the NBA’s second-biggest market. The league also renewed its partnership with Alibaba to be the official cloud computing and AI partner of NBA China. Alibaba platforms have dedicated NBA areas for fans in China to engage with content or shop for merchandise. Alibaba chairman Joe Tsai owns the Brooklyn Nets.
In China, the league has four flagship stores, 45 NBA kids stores and more than 5,000 partner retail stores. The NBA is the most popular sports league in China with 425 million social media followers in China across league, team and player platforms.
“The international opportunity is multiple of what the domestic U.S. sports market is,” Welts said. “The technology will allow anybody, anywhere in the world to consume any NBA game. We just have to figure out an economic model that delivers that in the way that everybody’s getting a fair share.”
Harper, who is the son of former NBA player Ron Harper and the older brother of San Antonio Spurs rookie Dylan Harper, is in his second stint with Boston after signing with the Celtics in July 2024 and spending a brief portion of the 2024-25 campaign with the Maine Celtics in the G League.
Harper averaged 22.8 points over four games with Maine last season while shooting 42.5 percent from 3-point range. He signed a two-way deal with the Pistons in January 2025 and finished the 2024-25 campaign in Detroit.
The 25-year-old wing became a free agent this offseason and latched on with the Celtics in September ahead of training camp. He made the most of his 2025 preseason with the C’s, averaging 4.3 points over 10.6 minutes per game in three contests while hitting 42.9 percent of his 3-pointers.
The Celtics now have all three of their two-way slots filled, as Harper joins rookies Amari Williams and Max Shulga among that group. Two-way players are limited to 50 games with their parent club, so Harper should get plenty of run in Maine this season while providing additional wing depth for the Jayson Tatum-less Celtics.
Boston wrapped up its preseason Wednesday night with a 110-108 win over the Toronto Raptors and will have a week off before kicking off its season on Wednesday, Oct. 22 at TD Garden against the Philadelphia 76ers (7:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston).
Jaylen Brown’s road to stardom with the Boston Celtics began with a bit of a speed bump.
When the Celtics selected the young guard from Cal with the No. 3 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, fans at a TD Garden watch party booed, expressing their frustration that the team didn’t swing a trade for Jimmy Butler or take a different top prospect such as Providence’s Kris Dunn.
But Brown declared he’d “go to war for this city,” and he’s backed up the promise both on and off the court.
NBC Sports Boston is kicking off its “Seven Days of Jaylen Brown” content series with an exclusive documentary on the Celtics star titled FCHWPO: Jaylen Brown’s Boston. (The acronym “FCHWPO” is a nod to Brown’s mantra, “Faith, Consistency and Hard Work Pays Off,” which also serves as his social media handle.)
The documentary, which is narrated by Boston’s own Donnie Wahlberg, follows Brown’s entire NBA journey: from the draft night boos, to the strong rookie campaign, to the persistent trade rumors, to the crucial social justice work, to becoming NBA Finals MVP and a champion, to this upcoming season, where he’ll take the lead for the Celtics without Jayson Tatum by his side.
Check out the full documentary in the video player above or watch below on YouTube, and stay tuned in the coming days for more Jaylen Brown content on all of NBC Sports Boston’s platforms.
Jonathan Kuminga is paying the price for his actions on Tuesday night, literally.
The NBA has fined the Warriors forward $35,000 for “making inappropriate contact with and continuing to pursue a game official,” the league announced Thursday morning.
The incident occurred in the second quarter of Golden State’s fourth preseason game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center, when Kuminga was ejected for the first time of his career after arguing a no-call.
During the play, Kuminga used his speed to drive to the basket, forcing his way through multiple Trail Blazers defenders. As ESPN’s Anthony Slater noted, Kuminga was frustrated that the no-call impacted the right ankle he injured during the 2024-25 season.
Kuminga left the game with seven points, six rebounds and four assists in 18 minutes.
“I love the way he played,” Kerr said. “I love the fire, the passion. I don’t mind the objection at all; I kind of liked it, actually. I thought JK was terrific tonight.”
Well, that fire cost him, but maybe it was worth it.
Lakers guard Gabe Vincent, left, and Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg vie for a loose ball in the first half Wednesday. (Ian Maule / Associated Press)
Gabe Vincent pulled up for a three-pointer and nailed it. And then Vincent nailed his next three and his next three and his next, giving him four straight made treys.
Vincent was on fire to start the game for the Lakers during their exhibition game against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night at T-Mobile Arena.
Before Vincent could even think about getting off his fifth three-pointer, Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg smothered him. Vincent stumbled and fell, scrambling to keep control of the ball. He did and passed it to a teammate.
When Vincent got to his feet and got the ball back, the fans began to shout, “Shooot it!” So, Vincent did, nailing his fifth three-pointer over the outstretched hand of the 6-9 Flagg, drawing more cheers from the pro-Lakers crowd.
Vincent was fouled on his sixth three-point attempt, sending him to the free-throw line for three free throws, all of which he made. That gave Vincent 18 points in what seemed like a flash in the first quarter.
He missed his next two three attempts, but that didn’t seem to matter to the crowd. Vincent had put on a show.
Vincent finished the game with 22 points on six-for-15 shooting and six-for-11 on three-pointers during the Lakers’ 121-94 loss to the Mavericks that saw L.A. get outscored 37-8 in the fourth quarter.
“I just wanted to come out aggressive,” Vincent said. “Obviously we were a few guys down. We knew we needed to play a little fast and I just wanted to come out and be aggressive and look for my shot. Guys found me early. They went in. That’s always helpful.”
He was part of a Lakers’ starting group of Rui Hachimura (19 points), Jaxson Hayes (12 points, 10 rebounds), Jarred Vanderbilt and Dalton Knecht. None of them played in the game Tuesday night in Phoenix.
Vanderbilt was having a good all-around game until he was forced to leave late in the second quarter with a left quad contusion after banging his left knee with a Mavericks defender. He limped up and down the court, but was still able to score on a dunk after he was injured and he drilled a three-pointer.
But with five minutes and 39 seconds left in the second quarter, Vanderbilt limped back to the Lakers’ locker room and never returned to play. He had five points, seven rebounds and four assists in 13 minutes.
“He can be a really impactful guy on both ends,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said about Vanderbilt. “Yyou can see he's moving better than he was last season. You can clearly tell that he's spent a lot of time working on his game this summer…Having him be able to guard multiple positions on the perimeter and be a crasher and hopefully a high-level corner spacer and a cutter…He can do a lot.”
The starting five Lakers who did play against the Suns — Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia — didn’t play in the back-to-back game against the Mavericks, Doncic’s former team that traded him to the Lakers in February. Redick said Bronny James didn’t play because of a sprained ankle.
The Lakers finish their preseason against the Sacramento Kings on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena, and from the sounds of things, Doncic and those who didn’t play against the Mavericks will play against the Suns.
“And then Friday, yes, the plan is to do another dress rehearsal and likely play most of our guys,” Redick said before the game. “I don’t know the minutes total, but that’s the plan.”
The Lakers open the regular season Tuesday against the Golden State Warriors at home.
